UDALL, JONES, SAMUELS TOP BAJA 1000
C
olton Udall and Ox Motor-
sports Honda teammates
Justin Jones and Mark Samuels
left no doubt who was fastest
by winning the 48th Bud Light
SCORE Baja 1000, the fifth
and final round of the SCORE
World Desert Championship. In
doing so, they also retook the
coveted 1X plate from defending
race and series champion Ricky
Brabec and his Bonanza Plumb-
ing/THR Motorsports/Precision
Concepts Kawasaki teammates
Max Eddy Jr., Justin Morgan
and David Pearson who claimed
second in the 821-mile loop
that started and finished in this
city on the Pacific coast. (Since
Brabec is now under contract to
race Hondas, he was unable to
take part, though he flew back
from Dakar Rally prep in Europe
a couple days before to support
his friends.)
Udall's team officially finished
in 16 hours, 29 minutes and
eight seconds to average just
under 50 mph after factoring in
time penalties for missing two
Virtual Check Points (VCPs),
while the THR squad rode
conservatively and avoided any
penalties to finish in 16:54:28.
Early race leaders Francisco Ar-
redondo, Shane Esposito, Ryan
Penhall and Roberto Villalobos
rounded out the first three mo-
torcycles in 17:08:18.
"We definitely wanted to win
the 1000," Samuels said. "Out
of all of them, that's the one you
want to win. Obviously you want
to have the championship and
the 1X plate for next year, but
we wanted to be the first ones
across the line here."
Though they'd drawn the ninth
starting position, Udall got to
second place fairly quickly on
the American Honda/Jackson
Motorsports Group/MSR-assist-
ed CRF450X and found himself
chasing Esposito on the Bremen
Racing/Chris Haines Motor-
cycle Adventure Company/Pro
Circuit CRF450X.
When Esposito hit a slick spot
and high-sided around mile 195,
Jones pounced and from there,
the Ox Motorsports team stayed
in front the remainder of the race
with just a few minor issues that
IN
THE
WIND
P16
Colton Udall
takes it into
the finish on
one wheel to
celebrate winning
not only the race
but the SCORE
Championship.
